At thirteen, I don’t have the money worries that many adults do and I’m thankful for that.  Having my own business since I was nine has taught me a lot about money though — how to work to earn it, how to spend it wisely, how to save it, and most importantly, how to donate it to help other people.   This is good to learn no matter what age you are.

I’ve been interviewed dozens of times since I started my business.  One of the questions I get asked a lot is how much I’ve made or other financial-related questions.   Even at age nine when I first started, it felt a little weird when people asked about that.  It’s like that was all they cared about.   Sometimes I got the feeling that if they didn’t hear I was making a huge amount, all of my efforts were worthless.  I wondered why they weren’t more interested in the fact that I donated part of my money to help other kids?  Even today, people still ask the “how much” question.   Shouldn’t it be more important “what” the person is doing than “how much” they are doing?

I try hard not to give out specific financial information.  I usually smile and tell them that since I’m still a private company, I’d rather not share that information but as soon as I go public, they’ll know.    I also tell them my main focus is not money.  Most people understand and don’t keep asking.   For some, it’s not so easy to take that as my answer.

Money is funny.  People, even kids, have very specific ideas about how much is enough or what is worth trying for.  If I said I made $500,000 a year, some people might think that was beyond reach and they would be discouraged.  If I said I made $5,000 a year, I’m sure there would be some who thought that wasn’t worth bothering with.   Either way, money does funny things to people.   My biggest thing is encouraging people of all ages to try their ideas.  You probably won’t get rich overnight but at least you’ll be doing something and maybe working toward that goal.  My plan is to make Pencil Bugs into a mega empire so the characters are as well-known as SpongeBob or any other character you see on products.  But all that takes time and lots of work.

My grandpa is 85 years old.  He has some good advice about money:

1. You don’t have to share your finances with everyone.
2. Don’t loan money unless you can afford to never get it back.
3. Don’t mix money and friends.
4. Don’t buy something just because you “want” it.
5. Save as much as you can.
6. If you have extra, make sure to help other people less fortunate.

We all need money to live but I think it’s more important what you do with it than how much you have.